Malone, Jazz Play Right Tune

With Karl Malone at the free throw line and John Starks behind the 3-point arc, the Utah Jazz had nothing to worry about.

Malone scored 33 points, hitting 14-of-16 free throws, and John Starks added 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range against his former team as Utah beat the New York Knicks 106-90 Wednesday night.

Most importantly for the Jazz, they played well and rebounded from a gut-wrenching overtime loss one night earlier against Western Conference rival Sacramento.

"You never know how you're going to come back and play," said Utah coach Jerry Sloan. "We had a lot of guys that played well. Our energy level was pretty good, especially for our older guys."

John Stockton added 15 points while Donyell Marshall scored 12 points and had 10 rebounds as the Jazz beat the Knicks for the seventh straight time.

Glen Rice came off the bench to lead the Knicks with 24 points, while Latrell Sprewell had 23, Allan Houston had 12 and Marcus Camby 10. New York, saddled with foul problems, couldn't keep up with the Jazz in the fourth quarter.

"Our morale is low," Sprewell said. "We're not playing with the type of confidence and competitiveness that we were before. We have to bring more energy, more passion, and just the will to win."

Trailing 81-75 entering the fourth period, New York seemed poised to challenge after Camby opened the quarter with a dunk and Rice followed with a jumper to trim the deficit to 84-79.

But the Knicks went cold, hitting only three field goals through the first 11 minutes of the quarter. By then, the Jazz had opened the lead to 97-85 and never were threatened again.

How could New York get anything going? Larry Johnson and Allan Houston fouled out. Charlie Ward and Kurt Thomas finished with five fouls, and Marcus Camby spent much of the second half on the bench with four.

"When the key guys, myself, L.J. and Kurt get into foul trouble, it's going to be tough for us to win," Camby said.

Always a challenge for any defense, Malone has been doing some of his best work lately without anyone guarding him. Over the last six games, the Mailman is 43-of-46 from the free throw line.

"I missed two tonight. That's not good," Malone said.

Early in the third, Malone even connected from 3-point range.

"It's about time I got one. I haven't made one in three years," he said.

The Knicks cut the margin to 88-81 on two free throws by Sprewell with 8:03 remaining, but Malone seized control on Utah's ensuing possession.

He went down hard when Thomas locked him up with 6:20 to play, and stayed on the floor long enough to put a scare through the near-sellout crowd at the Delta Center.

The Jazz took a timeout to regroup. Thomas was assessed a flagrant foul and Malone, after collecting himself on the bench, hit 1-of-2 free throws.

Utah retained possession and after the Jazz milked the shot clock, Malone drew a foul on Johnson, his sixth, and the Mailman hit both free throws to put Utah up 91-81 with 6:10 remaining.

"Karl Malone was terrific inside," Sloan said. "He just played really active and had a terrific game."

The only drama from thercame when Sprewell sprained his left ankle while driving the lane with 3:17 to play. It happened near the same spot where, one night earlier, Sacramento's Chris Webber sprained his left ankle.

"I just rolled it over, so we'll tomorrow how much it swells up," Sprewell said. "That's the one thing I have been blessed with. I am a limber guy."

Sprewell planned to treat the swelling with ice on the flight back to New York, then he will be re-evaluated on Thursday.

Notes